A silent spectator of the joy, anxiety, tears, meaningless rummy fights and many more such tender emotional moments — home holds a special place in everyone’s heart. For many, constructing a home is a materialization of their big dream and nothing can translate the joy of that dream come true. However, apart from the emotional dimensions, constructing a home is a big investment too. Careful planning is must at each stage of its construction to achieve your dream within your budget. A beautiful home should be complemented by beautiful interiors as well as tastefully done exteriors. A perfectly planned exterior is very important as first impressions solely rest on it. Apart from that, it is important from the security point of view as well. A cleverly installed exterior lighting, fencing and other aspects add to the security of your home apart from accentuating the architectural beauty of it. Browse through to learn more about home exterior ideas before you finalize your exteriors.
Home Exterior Decoration Ideas
Exterior Lighting Ideas
- Lighting is one of the easiest and inexpensive ways to spruce up the beauty of your home exteriors. From sconces to strings lights and from solar lights to hanging lanterns, you can illuminate your outdoors creatively to produce a distinctive mood.
- Outdoor lighting is important, not just for embellishing your exteriors, but also for safety purpose. A well-designed lighting plan has enough capacity to change the landscape of your home.
- You can install low-voltage outdoor lighting systems, which are not only inexpensive, but also easy to install and movable.
- Installing automatic timers makes your outdoor lights more low-maintenance. Try to install indoor switches so that you get easy access.
- To get more ideas on exterior lighting, walk through your yard, observe and understand it, and plan accordingly. For more ideas, you can browse décor catalogs or take ideas from your friend or relatives. If you want professional advice, you may approach a lighting consultant.
- Develop a plan as to where you want to place the lights considering the shading and highlighting made by natural light. Most importantly, note down the unsafe areas of your compound and place lights accordingly. No lighting should be planned without considering the landscape and nature of your exteriors.
- To make it more attractive, select a focal point or main element to design around — large trees, main entrance, etc.
- Highlight house numbers to make it easier for your guests to locate your house.
- Consider using different colored lighting rather than opting for plain lights.
- Do thorough research before finalizing the exterior paints. You may borrow inspiration from exterior-paint color cards that suggests striking color-combinations.
- Go through some home décor magazines that could provide you with valuable inputs. Photos can convey more than words, so do not forget to browse some photos too.
- Consider the surfaces to be painted and the floor tiling before deciding on your palette. Select a paint that works well on the type of surface you have and the shade that goes well with the tile because, the tile pattern is fixed and you cannot change it.
- While dealing with exterior painting, it is important to consider the roof and also the surroundings to make sure that you don’t make your home the ‘odd one out’.
- Get some sample strokes on the wall to make sure that it turns up exactly the way you want it to be. Consider putting patches of all your siding colors before you select them. No need to say that the siding color should complement the main shade.
- Paint your front door with shades that grab attention, but avoid using too loud shades.
- Lastly, head towards the paint store at least a week before your scheduled painting session and ask for additional products that could provide smoother finish to avoid last minute decisions and purchases.
- Always select water resistant paints for exteriors to avoid any water-induced damage and development of moss. Re-paint exteriors once in every 2-3 years. It may appear as an extra expense, but it is worth a moss-free, appealing exterior that justifies all the expense and efforts you put in to materialize your dream home.
- Exterior tiling requires thorough research as it is exposed to the outer environment and need to be strong enough to withstand any climatic changes.
- Porcelain tiles are highly resistant to moisture, stains, and wear and tear, and hence, are ideal for exteriors. Also, they are easy to install and are available in a large array of colors and textures too. Porcelain tiles are of two types – full body porcelain tiles and glazed porcelain tiles. Full body has consistent color throughout the tile whereas glazed tile has a coloured glaze all over the body.
- Extremely durable granite tiles are fit for any exteriors, as it is resistive to fading, abrasions and chemicals. Plus, it gives a posh look to your home exteriors.
- Marbleized Teak Silk is another option that provides excellent finish to your exteriors with its brilliant glass body combed through coordinating colors. These tiles are available in different colors, tones, shades and sizes. The presence of natural glass enhances the final finish of your exteriors. It is a perfect fit if you want to achieve a glassy-glowing exterior.
- Quartz, created from sandstone after subjecting it to extreme heat and pressure, changes its nature from very soft stone to a robust rock, which is highly resistant to chemical weathering. No need to say, it is perfect for outdoor tiling in places of highly vulnerable climatic conditions.
